


Nothing Burns Like The Cold

by Trashcanakin



Series: Trash's 2019 Bingo fills [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anti Steve Rogers, Civil War Team Iron Man, Dark Tony Stark, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POSSIBLE Winteriron, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is Not a Villain, he's just done with everyone's shit, well...dark-ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 14:57:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19336852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trashcanakin/pseuds/Trashcanakin
Summary: Tony Stark has struggled, suffered; been beaten down again and again. Friendships and family bonds broken, shattered. Tragedy can change a man. Is the team ready for the outcome of disaster?





	Nothing Burns Like The Cold

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was made for TSB Square: k4 - Battle/Fight/Confrontation
> 
> \---
> 
> Not Beta'd, sorry for mistakes.

“Please, Tony, don’t make me do this,” Steve uttered, the glint in his eye betraying the pleading words, too easily shed from his lips. 

 

And doesn’t that just leave a bitter taste. Great, humble, perfect Steve, who fights for the little guy, who  _ always _ does what’s right, sitting here saying those words to Tony. The same words he spoke to his best friend those few years ago, and actually meant them. He doesn’t mean them now, not really. Not the way he's hoping they come across.

 

_ Please. Give me a break.  _ Tony thought.

 

“Nobody  _ makes _ you do anything, Rogers,” Tony spoke up, a scowl planting itself firmly on his face. “You’re going to do what you always do, no matter how I react, anyways. Don’t try to deny it.” 

 

Steve let out a deep sigh, he sounded tired; but it was Tony who was more dead than alive these days. Exhaustion rooted itself deep into his very being, like the talons of a hawk sinking into its prey. Relentless, unyielding, burrowed so deep he can hear it in the cavity of his chest. It’s a shock he’s even able to function. 

 

"Tony, please!" Steve plead, gaze flickering between pain and irritation. Determined to force Tony to see things his way.

 

"It's already done. We're  _ done _ ," Tony uttered the words, crisp, cold. He left absolutely no room for argument, eyes piercing forward in a frozen, glossy gaze. He wouldn't cry. Wouldn't. Not for Steve, not anymore. 

 

He took a glance to where Barnes stood on the other side of him. The man looked scared, concerned, but also hauntingly broken. Their eyes met, and the anger boiled inside Tony. Coiling hot, threatening to spill over. He was so close to combusting, a hair’s width away to letting the rage bubble up and out in a volcanic fury. 

 

But he didn’t. He’d bite it down. Choke on his tongue if he had to. Anything to soothe the simmer of emotions ravaging his core. 

 

Steve expected him to try and kill Barnes, always expected the worst of him. Tony wouldn't give him that satisfaction. Steve didn't deserve anything from Tony anymore. 

 

Steve was supposed to care for him. They were teammates. Partners.  _ Family.  _ But he lied.

 

Liar.

 

“Don’t hurt him, Tony. It wasn’t him.”

 

The words came as a command and Tony shot his head back towards the man who spoke them; eyes a burning glaze of ferocity. 

 

Peering into the Captain’s un-perfect blue eyes made Tony snap. The seal was broken, the lid off the pot. The volcanic storm lashed out. 

 

Tony took the first swing. 

 

But not at Barnes, like Steve presumed.

 

It was chaos after that. Tony and Steve wreaked havoc on each other. Tony saw red, he couldn’t see reason. They exchanged blow for blow. Hit after hit. Then Tony saw Barnes again, and the man fought back. Logically, Tony knew it was just Barnes’s fight or flight response, just a man’s dying need to protect themselves; fighting in a last ditch effort to survive. 

 

Tony knows how that feels. 

 

But he couldn’t stop himself. Not yet. The logical part of his brain was being suffocated by anguish and pain, snuffed out in a senseless outrage.

 

The three men fought, raw and unrelentless. In the end, it was Tony who was once again left to deal with the consequences of the outcome. 

 

Steve destroyed the last shred of their friendship standing there in that bunker, protecting the man who murdered his parents, long before the brawl had even started. 

 

It wasn’t Barnes’s fault, but he  _ still did it _ , and Tony had a right to  _ know _ . Steve should have  _ told _ him. 

 

It felt like years of his life had just been wasted. Ripped from him. 

 

But Tony would take it back. Reclaim it. A coldness sprouted deep within him. Seeping in through the cracks in his broken, lifeless suit lain across the frozen ground, encased by the battering of harsh winter winds. It was bitter, icy, cold. He didn’t think he’d ever warm up again. He made up his mind right there, blood dripping from his lips and a deep rooted pain in his caved in chest. He wouldn't ever let anyone hurt him like this again. 

 

Never again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So, I started writin' this months ago, when I was in a really dark state of mind; decided to fix it up an' post it finally. Unfortunately, that means I can't find the right "feeling" to write this, much. 
> 
> I do plan to finish it! I jus' won't have a schedule, an' can't be certain when the next chapter will be out :/ 
> 
> As always, thanks for readin'! 🖤


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